Shabu-Shabu!

Last night kyle and I had a glorious Japanese dinner in little tokyo, LA. We went to KaGaYa and got the 7 course shabu shabu special. The first appetizer was two small pieces of fish liver decorated with cavier, tiny chives, and a thin, dark sauce. It was suprisingly delicious. Next we had a clam broth soup. Then we each got two small pieces of what I think the waiter said was deep-fried fish throat (?). It was difficult to pick apart with chopsticks, but it was worth the twenty minutes we each spent working out the small, tender pieces of fish from the odd-shaped bone pieces.

Next was the main course, the shabu-shabu. The waiter brought out a heaping plate of vegetables including chrysanthemum, napa cabbage, shittake mushrooms, chives, and tofu. Then he brought me a full plate of raw, thinly sliced beef and Kyle got half beef, half seafood, including crab legs, mussels, and clam. We put a few things in into the boiling pot of water on our table, but I think the wait staff could tell we were pretty clueless, because shortly after someone came over to help us out. He put all of the vegetables into the pot and gave us instructions on how to eat the beef and seafood. The beef is cooked by swishing it, one piece at a time, in the boiling water. It only takes about 3 seconds to cook. Then it can be dipped into the various sauces they provided, or transferred to a plate to mix with a bite of vegetables. It was so good!! And fun too.

After we stuffed ourselves on meat and vegetables, they took our broth and made it into rice porridge by adding egg and rice. I thought I was stuffed, but the rice porridge was so delicious that I found a way to eat a lot more.

But we weren't done yet! Our meal also included dessert. Kyle picked the baked banana pie, as recommended on yelp. I had a hard time deciding between the apple pie and the creme brulee, but finally decided on the pie. Our desserts didn't look like pie, though... they were served in small, circular, gourmet portions with strange but delicious sauces. yummm. And then our waiter brought us a complimentary creme brulee, on the house! It was great.

Here is what a shabu shabu pot looks like. I meant to take my own pictures, but I was so busy with all of the food, I forgot! I found these online:

A shabu-shabu pot:



The beef is served like this: